Brilliant hotel plan goes south
BOB BRILLIANT’S PLAN WAS NOT to just retire to Florida, but to take his considerable life savings and invest in a promising business that also would provide him with a job.
At first, the plan seemed like a good one: A hotel with nightly rentals of apartment-like rooms near Siesta Key, where most rooms must be let by the week.
His $3 million, plus a $7 million bank loan to fund the purchase of two Stickney Point hotels and their renovation, appeared to be working for the 43-room Hibiscus Suites when the average rate Brilliant charged was $137 a night.